There were signs…. He’d call Dexter Fowler, “Dudley.” He’d call Todd Helton, “Tootie.” He’d hit like a menopausal woman with no occasional hot flashes. But you take the good, you take the bad… It’s “Take the good” first! Where’s the good, Garret Atkins? It’s time to clean house and Atkins is the first one to go. Here’s what I said in February in the rankings, “The Holliday trade to the A’s hurts Atkins value too. And, frankly, for the last three years, Atkins was hurting his own value. He’s gone from 29 to 25 to 21 home runs since 2006. If you were taking the SATs, the next number in that sequence would be 17. His slugging percentage has been following suit, as well. The way Atkins is headed, he’s going to need 2nd base eligibility to have any value by 2010.” And that’s me quoting me! Atkins hit 2 home runs yesterday. Sell! Sell! Sell! He’s an average 3rd baseman who will probably be traded from the Rockies in the coming months. Honestly, you’re probably be better off with Mark Teahen at 3rd. Someone somewhere many years ago said Atkins is going to hit 30 homers because he plays in Coors and for some reason people have not stopped believing it. It’s a crock. You know who else is crizzap? Troy Tulowitzki. Who are you, Troy Tulowitzki? I know, Stephen Drew; I know Ben Zobrist. I do not know Troy Tulowitzki. The Rockies are the new blech. So it’s time to shake things up, right? Yes. For you and the Rockies. Anyway, here’s some more players to Buy and Sell this week in fantasy baseball:

BUY

Carlos Gonzalez – They’ll probably trade Hawpe to a contender and play Carlos Gonzalez full-time. Or just sit Seth Smith. The Rockies HATE Seth Smith. (Caps for emphasis and the doode reading over your shoulder.) CarGo’s a solid flier in deep, NL-Only leagues, especially keepers. In mixed leagues, if you have room, I’d take the gamble because you never know and you might be able to flip him for a better, more reliable piece if he starts off hot. He does have 15/15 potential, but he’s probably no better than Ben Francisco at this point.

Carlos Quentin- I don’t want to give you false hope and it’s always wise to be careful when dealing with injuries with injury-prone players — will it magically reappear in three days after you trade for him? — but I’m optimistic Carlos Quentin can come back from his injury and be productive.

Tommy Hanson – One of the few rookie pitchers that should be owned in every league. Even 2 team leagues that have one man benches.

David Murphy – With Hamilton out, Murphy’s been starting every day. He has a .357 average and two steals in the last seven games. When Beltran went down, I grabbed Murphy on one team and I haven’t dropped him back to waivers yet.

J.P. Howell – Could be distancing himself from the Wheelerfourson. In all of my leagues, I’m currently holding Wheeler and no one else from the Wheelerfourson. If Wheeler doesn’t get a save opp in the next week, he’s gone too.

Ricky Nolasco – I’d bench him for his start on Sunday. But I would pick him up.

Sean Rodriguez – What do the Angels do with a 2nd baseman who has 18 homers in 179 ABs in Triple-A? Promote him and demote Howie Kendrick? ( I told you to get rid of Kendrick two weeks ago in the Buy/Sell — you can find old Buy/Sells on the left sidebar. Print them out and wallpaper your brain. Or save money on toilet paper. You’re call!) Or do the Angels promote Rodriguez, demote Kendrick, wait two weeks until Kendrick starts hitting in the Coors-like PCL and then promote Kendrick right back and demote Rodriguez again like they’ve been doing with Brandon Wood for the last three years? Phew, that was the longest question in the history of words. I think there’s a 50/50 chance of either scenario happening. In deep leagues, you grab Rodriguez now so you don’t have to beat your entire league to the waiver wire.

Matt Joyce – Joyce is best known for, “A Portrait of the Power Hitter Who Needs Playing Time.” Lost Quentin to injuries and Votto and Bruce to the dark side? Joyce can give your team a power boost.

Randy Wells – After going through five starts with a 1.69 ERA and a .97 WHIP, it’s mixed league time, friends. He’s been too good at this point for him to be sitting on waivers.

Gordon Beckham – Went over him yesterday. Here’s the Cliff Notes version, “British 2nd baseman who’s married to one of the Spice Girls. Once had a dalliance with the Queen. Pick him up in leagues if you need MI help.”

while he’s on the DL, I have DeRosa @ 2B and Davis @ 3B. DeRosa spells Davis when I have power that week/lack average or runs even, I play Davis if I am behind in jacks. i guess this is working out. (FA’s: Burriss, Bonifacio, I. Stewart, Kennedy (i guess he’s good when he’s hot), and I lile Schumaker’s average… I’m fine for now. I picked up Nolasco when I put Ass-droobler on the DL for now… thx Grey

I held onto Fernando Martinez over Carlos Gonzalez this morning, then feeling somewhat regretful I picked up Sean Rodriguez. I was still kinda regretting it until I just read you saying to buy Rodriguez… I hope. How would you rate Carlos Gonzalez, Fernando Martinez, and Sean Rodriguez?

I’d like to pick up Randy Wells. Possible candidates to cut include: Gordon Beckham, Xavier Nady, Nolan Reimold, Ian Stewart. My team is a little short on power at the moment and fairly solid in SBs. Pitching is very good, but there is always room for one more good pitcher. See anyone to cut or should I leave Wells out there?

Sean Rod is a gangsta. they say the 2nd best, if not the best athlete in the organization. And that includes Scioscia, so.. you KNOW he’s good. he plays INF and OF and he is probably the fastest guy on the team. (I watched Angels games last year…) I like both Dodgers and Angels, though… But S-Rod is legit. It’s a “when” thing, not an ‘if” thing…

hope you’re right about cq .
hope is all i have left .
just seeing him on my bench/dl every week makes me wanna puke/cry .
almost sold him for a bag of peanuts , last week , but they were the dry-roasted/un-salted variety .

@anoraxx: I don’t think Utley Bell side wins at all actually. Closers can be found every few weeks and Cano has been playing like he used to, which was pretty good outside of last year. He’s no Utley obviously, but he’ll score runs, drive him some, and he’s already at his season SB totals. Jason Bay speaks for himself. Its a pretty fair deal though.

Since you seem so active on this post, Grey, answer me this: How the hell am I supposed to sell Tejada in my RCL division if you keep telling everyone to sell him? I’ve been pimping his inflated numbers for weeks with no bites. What is a reasonable price to expect from him, especially considering that Alexi Ramirez has been ass-tastic and he’s my other MI?

Hey Grey, I’m stuck in a serious DL bind… do I give up Kershaw and Webb to get Lester? Kershaw/Danks are my worst pitchers, but I need room to stash Reyes on the DL (where Webb is right now). Is Lester a big enough downgrade over Webb that we should scuttle the trade? (otherwise, we’re taking 0’s for Votto/Reyes until one comes back)…

@ K.Hernandez: I have the balls to start him in Seattle. Cust kayin’. After absolutely no trade interest in him, two things could result: #1 a decent outing that will bear sweet fruit going forward, or more likely #2 provide incentive to dump him for Nolasco, who will appreciate the jesture and reward my fantasy team with Ace type stats for the rest of the season. It’s all good either way, regardless of the outcome or ball size.

@anoraxx: Qualls is a better choice. Bell has been really good, and he has a track record of being a very good 8th inning guy as well. He’s in a pitchers park and he is established. He has been pretty healthy for the last 4 years.

Am I giving away too much in this deal or should I be pulling the trigger now? I need pitching help (for context) and seeking the best in Johann.

I get Santana and give Manny and Nelson Cruz (keeper league).
My outfield is ok, but overly reliant on youth with A.Jones, N.Cruz, Lind, Bruce, E.Dukes (and Taveras, Milton, R.Winn to fill in) – Manny was the one reliable piece.

That being said, Johann is an obvious difference maker in an area I need to attack. In second place and leading in HR/RBI – behind in era/whip… I’ve sent Manny and Lind (rather than Cruz) for Johann, but have not rejected his original offer yet…

@Aaron Pil: I fail to see how Robinson Cano has a terrible track record. Outside of last year, he has been an above average 2b. Jason Bay also has been a top 10 outfielder since the beginning of last year. I’d agree with the good player having a great year assessment, but he had a great fantasy year also. Heath Bells are cool, but saves is only one category. You will find a replacement player for him before your worst OF or worst 2b outperforms Cano or Bay.

@Steve: Do I think Atkins hits .190 and 5 HRs all year? Nope, but his year to year trends are terrible and if he gets traded to a less hitter friendly park it’s not good. Then throw in the fact that if he’s traded to contender and doesn’t hit, his leash will be short so he might lose time. And that’s me being optimistic.

@Swass: Terrible track record as in hes a hot and cold hitter. If you draft him and plug him in and forget him you will be fine. If your trading for him though and trying to time a window of his best performance, its way harder.

Heath Bell is established and helps you in 4 categories. 2b is always scarce. OF very dependent on league.

@Grey: Another Buy A-Rod oportunity for you to judge. It is a Keeper League, but I don’t want to tank the season for the future. Would you deal Zimmerman AND a very decent arm Carpenter, Hanson, maybe Scherzer, or at least Liriano, for Alex? I also own Texiera if the back to back batters matters at all…Thanks!

@Aaron Pil: His career splits from June through the rest of the season are pretty damn good. I don’t think he’s that streaky and new Yankee Stadium can’t hurt.

I disagree with the notion that Heath Bell helps in 4 categories. I don’t think a ceiling of 3k and 1 scoreless inning a night helps, especially when you consider the Padres won’t be winning that many games. If you want help in Ks and ERA/WHIP from a reliever and don’t want to pay much, check out a MR.

I’m in a 12-team, H2H league, and I have to drop someone when Uehara comes off the DL next week. I was thinking of dropping either Marmol or Cristian Guzman or maybe even Uehara, but I’m not sure. Here’s my roster as it stands right now:

Grey, your earlier comment about the throw in for AROD caught my attention (you ranked which SP’s you’d throw in first). I’ve been red hot, moving from 11th to 2nd in my league since May 1st. Now the hard work comes. The guy in front of me is at 90 and his team is solid. I’m in and around the 72-75 mark. I’m trying to upgrade and stockpile talent, in effect, selling high on my guys for someone who big numbers will come in August. Alas, two months into the season is enough that your preseason rankings which I use as the gospel have probably changed. Would you do me a favor and re-rank my guys for the rest of 2009?

Alright, how about this: Webb and Kershaw for Lester and Damon? I guess what this all comes down to is, (a) do you think Damon will continue his current play (including playing time), and (b) do you think Webb (if he even does come back) will play to the level that we’re used to?

@Doc: That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen. That would be like staying home on a Friday night to watch baseball and comment on a blog. Totally lame people, frickin idiots, losers. Get a life.

@Steve: Ha! I own those three in a 16-team league. But it’s a deep league, so I kind of have to for depth, (I’
m streaming one into my5th spot each week). Unless you’re in a deep league, I agree with Grey..Blech

Okay, sorry I’ve been back-and-forth on this all night, but here’s the final offer I received: I get Johnny Damon, and I give Clayton Kershaw. One one hand, it looks more and more like a no-brainer, but I guess I am concerned by Damon’s owner’s willingness to dump him… Do I take it (Damon would replace Reimold)?

@Grey: My concern stems from his age and his relatively poor performance last year. I have a chance to get him as a fill in (and insurance) for Reyes at a price that is only reasonable if he won’t regress too much. Glad to hear you have faith in him.

OK, I’ve never been involved in a trade, so cut me some slack if this suggestion is ridiculous. I’m thinking of offering, to the guy in 10th (last) place, who has crap in every one of these positions, the following: Rivera, Napoli, Huff, F. Lopez, Jurrjens (or Wandy, but I doubt he’d go for that) — for Carlos Beltran or Texeira. Even if he agrees, is this veto material? I honestly have no idea. Thanks..

@BigFatHippo:
is it safe to acknowledge ludwig’s homer ,
or would that flat-out jinx him at this point in time ?

you know that story of the guy who felt sorry for himself
‘cuz he had no shoes ?
well , suck it up , hip .
this bare-foot boy’s been an A’s fan since ’59 .
and now i have to endure in a world
where billy beane is considered a genius .

In a league where I’m starting Garrett Atkins (and everybody jumps on every possible closer candidate off the waiver wire), should I trade my J. Soria for Aubrey Huff. There are no decent 3B free agents.

the gents over at fangraphs are telling me to sell ibanez. do you have revised projections of his stats (at the outset: 85/25/110/.290/3). i.e. only 6 more jacksons?? (sorry, i heard that term on espn and fell in love immediately)

here’s a little deal that was offered this morning to me:
Slumping Aaron Hill for Jared Weaver in a 12 team mixed league. I think I should take it, considering I just picked up Uggie on the waiver wire for the exact purpose of trading
Anybody have any concerns about weaver not keeping up current number, which have been excellent at this point?
A minor trade, yes, but any advice would help me as I am a horrible of evaluater of trades, especially pitcher for batter like this one.

In a ten team mixed roto 5×5, My starters are Bills, Shields, Jared Weaver, Vazquez, Slowey, Wandy, Verlander, Danks and Jurrjens. I could use another RP, what about trading or cutting Danks? Who could be a trade target?

@jesse: Their reason doesn’t seem like a great one to sell. Could see him going 35/110/.300 on the year, so you would have the majority of his stats if you sold now, but I’d want a top 50 to 25 talent if selling him right now.

@naughtandcross: In a vacuum, Grey’s right. But, trades are about accumulating points, not value (in Roto). That may work for you if your team is that lopsided and you’re not handing someone the trophy in doing so.

I was on the receiving end of getting Johan for A-Rod and I should have just waited for a couple pitchers to turn it around (which they now have). I’m bleeding RBI and power now.

@Grey: @Prince: So I had thought of Rivera + Huff + Napoli + Felipe Lopez + Wandy / Jurrjens FOR Beltran or Tex. I already have Beltre to fill for Huff, Iannetta to fill for Napoli, and there are crappy closers and other MI types available on waivers (Drew, Peralta, Escobar). Maybe I should leave out the pitchers.

@Baron Von Vulturewins: It’s all situational to a degree, but I think Howell is who they want in the tough situations no matter the batter. But that is also where someone like Marmol has been. I like Howell because he should get some saves and he won’t blow up on you as much. Choate is getting LUCKY to be in these situations. He shouldn’t have even come in today.

How in the world do I handle Ben Zobrist? I picked him up back on May 17 and he’s been sitting on my bench ever since I’ve made some trades that might blow up in my face (hello a-ram, grady, and b. webb) but could pay dividends when push comes to playoffs. Can he be sold at this point in time? My league is fairly savvy. 10 team mixed plus OPS.

Grey,
offered a trade of my Rios for his Liriano in 12 team H2H keeper. Neither of the players are keepable next year. My pitching is horrible, as it consists of Gallardo, Dempster, Jurgens, Scherzer, Hanson, Uehara.
My OF is Vlad, Beltran, Fowler, Rios and Granderson for 4 spots.
I don’t feel Liriano is worth it but he also has Josh Johnson (would be 9th round keeper), Javier Vazquez (10th round) and Bedard.
He also has Dukes, Reimold, Hart as OFs for potential throw-ins.

Anyone watching Escobar pitch? As I haven’t needed the DL spot he’s been (insert J-Malk rounders accent now) hanging around (stop) since draft day. Besides the first inning he looks like he is having a nice little outing for his bad self.

@Doc: Well I know who I should drop, its Gordy Beckham. But theres a guy in my league who wants him bad so he has more value to me as a guy to trade then on my roster basically. Its a 12 H2H, 4 player keeper league (only guys who were drafted in or after round 5, 3 year keep max). My leading drop candidates are Gamel, Beckham, McCooch, and Hanrahan. Id drop Hanrahan but closers are like blood diamonds in this league.

@BigFatHippo: My RCL team is pretty thin. I made some bad trades and have some shaky players. It’s my only non-money league and I think I take bigger risks. But I do think I can stay close. Nobody is going to run away with it.

I’m happy tonight because I have Stewart on 5/7 teams. I sure hope he can keep it going.

@SRM: The Longoria owner is incredibly desperate and has already agreed to it. They seem to be under the belief that Zobrist (thanks to his hot-streak) is now the equal of a first-round pick. I just need to pull the trigger and exploit the weak.

I am glad the trade went through. I think it would have been wrong for it to have been vetoed as dumb as I thought it was. Part of the fun of Dynasty leagues is taking chances on prospects. That being said, including Beckham in a conversation with Wieters is an insult to Wieters and baseball common sense.

And Barry, how on earth can you be deluded enough to say you will find a pitcher on the waiver wire better than a 24-YEAR OLD who is 7-3, averages over a K/inning (85 already!), with a 2.59 ERA, Whip under 1.25, and sits alone on top of the league in Quality Starts???? He is a young absolute work-horse who looks to be easily in the next generation’s Santana/Halladay sphere. He was BY FAR THE BEST PITCHER ON YOUR TEAM and barring injury would have been for another 7 or 8 years. You hate me because you know I’m constantly right and it makes you feel like a retard.

@Mr Baseball: I have billingsley, and god do I love him. Nice Trade!
Grey, should I trade or hold reyes? im leaning towards trade, but that would mean id get stuck with tejada for the rest of the year at SS.

I agree, that’s what I was thinking too. I need a few more outings from Dice-K before I start using him. How about Tommy Hanson though? Do I take the plunge right away? Even though it’s against Milwaukee’s great hitters?

i have a staff of peavy, billingsly (via trade), bedard, oswalt, e-jax (thx to this site), happ (thx to this site) and frank liriano.

my OF looks like this: granderson, hawpe, reimold, joyce.

i’m in a keeper league, and i have my eyes on one adam jones who was taken in the 19th round (and if kept, can be taken there next year). his owner will not even speak with me unless bedard is on the table. given my situation, does it make sense to undo time and swap bedard for jones? maybe with a little trevor hoffman thrown in (i could use a closer)?

@grey- this is a question from a non money league i’m in but with bragging rights. somebody offered me jose reyes and tiny tim for beltran, oswalt, and beckett. Now i would definitely say NO but this is were it gets interesting. Right now i dont play a C and have one player on the bench because my pitching is so good. I have price, sherzer, broxton, franklin, hawkins, beckett, oswalt, slowey, lacky, wandy, harang, and hanson. If i do the trade i can put jose on DL and open up 2 spots for some waiver players. My hitting is also solid with a-gon, hill, a-rod, s. drew, c.lee, ibanez, a jones, holliday, chipper, beltran, and ianetta on the DL. Should i do it?

@BigFatHippo: @Grey: looking great,we excuse a braun bomb but you gotta get the pitcher out son,wells looking great for cubbies also as is jaba,i have all and im counting on a nolasco of old siting tonight

Can anybody smarter than me with peripheral stats give me some input on whether you think Zobrist’s stats are for real? His BABIP isn’t too outrageous, if anything it was low last year, and his HR/FB% took a big jump going into last season…that’s all I got though, any thoughts?

@Adam: Depends what we’re talking about doing with him. Is he on your waivers? Then pick him up and see where he takes you. Is he on another team? Don’t trade for him. Is he on your team already? Then ride him out.

He’s on another team, I’m currently riding the dynamite duo of Clint Barmes and Jerry Hairston to fill my MI slots…missed out on Ian Stewart by 10 minutes last night, should’ve left the bar earlier to do some drunk waiver wiring

For christ sake, is there any rookie pitcher who doesn´t get shelled like on the Judgement day? I should finally realize that having 150K/9, ERA -2.5 and like 9W in some children AAA league means nothing. First, Jay-Z burnt in hell but at least gave me couple of W, then Suckevar was bombed twice for me just to be followed by Medlen. But everybody was just waiting for Han Son to arrive and ruin my 1.7ERA week, turning 9-3 lead into 3-something blowout. Without all of them, I would have had like 2.5 ERA on the season…

@Grey: Stewart is so streaky and mostly unspectacular, and I think I can actually get a first-second rounder w/ Kubel/Stewart/McCutchen right now. I’ll have an OF of Bay-Beltran-Cruz-Alexei-Rasmus and Uggla-Tulo-Burriss at the MI spots, with whoever I get for them. I think I’m deep enough to do it.

@Grey: How did Hanson look? I know the numbers but was at work so didn’t even see any highlights.

Good lord, it’s impossible to have a bad pitching day when Halladay’s on the mound for your fantasy team. No matter who else you throw, (Wells and Hanson, Wells looked good but Cubs suck) you know Roy’s gonna give you 9 innings of near flawless balls…………..

@BigFatHippo: Can you take the hit of losing those two power threats? It’s fair. Really depends on needs. I wouldn’t do it in a regular 5×5, but in a league that counts Ks against the hitters, I could see it.

If Nolasco does manage to pitch like, acceptable today, how many games should I go with him on the bench before I consider putting him back in? I don’t know if I can trust him before going 3 decent games…

@matthole: I am chasing wins and added Mazzaro. The A’s are getting hot and in June they face Min, SF x6, SD, and the Dodgers. I picked up Anderson off waivers as well. Planning on starting them all until June 29 despite the peripherals.

In a league with only 2 bench spots (and no DL), if you have Reyes and Webb on the DL, and you get the news that Votto (who you also have) will not be ready to come back from his mystery personal issue immediately when his DL stint is over, and you get the news that Rich Harden (who you also have) was scratched from his start for the Iowa Cubs and may not come back from the DL soon, and then you get the news that Justin Upton (the only bright spot on your miserable excuse for a team) was removed “grimacing” from a game today… do you just send a big “Eff you” email to everyone in the league and quit?

Would you do this trade? I’ve been approached about giving my Haren and Cantu for his Longoria. My other SPs are Wainwright, Josh Johnson, Weaver, Lackey, Wandy and Hanson. 12-team H2H, not a keeper league. I’m 9th in HRs, 7th in Rs, 4th in RBIs and 7th in AVG. 5th in Ks and 1st in both ERA and WHIP. I also have Sandoval, Howard, Utley Alexei/Rollins/Peralta, Kemp, Rios, Ellsbury, Quentin and Votto on DL, and a spot I’ve been playing with between trying to find some power or being worried about saves because of Qualls lately

got ryan howard in a deal and i have votto spinning in circles on my DL, cut duncan loose?! Rasmus looks like he’s taking over the coveted spot in front of AP… plus i could grab a guy like sean rod or Wolf was just dropped as well….